Robert slipped out of the door and stood in the corridor, out of sight of the students in the hostel. He glanced downstairs and saw Mr. Bous making his way toward the boys' dormitory.
"I wonder why he always visits the boys first," Poison grumbled, a tinge of fear in his voice. "What if he sees you?"
"Don't worry about Mr. Bous," Robert said, his tone light and casual. "I've got a little trick up my sleeve. After I'm done with him, I'll meet up with Oliver outside. I'm starving, and a juicy, greasy burger sounds amazing right now."
"Robert, be careful," Poison warned. "You can't just rely on your powers to get you out of everything. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. We need to focus on finding that seal as soon as possible, and not on messing around."
"Enough with the lecture!" Robert whispered as he heard the footsteps of Mr. Bous climbing the stairs. "He's coming."
"Alright, let's do this," Poison replied, his voice low and determined.
Robert carefully walked down the stairs, making sure his footsteps were loud enough to be heard by Mr. Bous.
As Mr. Bous heard the footsteps, he wondered who was so foolish as to challenge his authority. He gritted his teeth, determined to punish the student who dared to break the rules.
Robert kept walking down the stairs until he reached the landing, where he suddenly became invisible. With silent steps, he continued to descend the stairs unnoticed by the oblivious Mr. Bous.
"Piece of cake," Robert said telepathically after he walked past the teacher, a note of triumph in his voice.
"That was fun," he continued. "Let's try something even more daring." He suggested and sand gathered in his palm.
"Robert, no!" Poison protested. "We've talked about this! You can't use your powers to mess with people, especially not a teacher! You might be exposed!"
"Oh please, what could possibly go wrong?" Robert replied.
Almost immediately, Mr. Bous suddenly turned around sharply and stared straight at the spot where Robert was standing.
"Who's there?" he asked, a note of suspicion in his voice.
Robert realized with a jolt of horror that he had spoken out loud, not telepathically. He had given himself away!
Mr. Bous scanned the area, but couldn't see anyone, clearly oblivious of Robert who was standing a few meters away, invisible. Shaking his head, he turned and walked back towards the hostel.
Once Mr Bous was out of sight, Robert became visible. He let out a deep breath and slumped against the wall, his heart pounding in his chest.
"That was close," he said.
"You know, I'm starting to rethink having you be the one to carry out this descendant stuff, maybe I should transfer to your sister, she must be more cautious than you are," Poison said, sounding more annoyed than disappointed.
"Hey, don't talk about my sister like that, she still four," Robert said.
"I can bet she'll make a better host."
"Poison," Robert snapped, "I'm sure Oliver would be waiting for us outside."
Robert turned invisible again and made his way towards the school gate, slipping past the gatekeeper with ease. He was soon standing outside the school grounds, where Oliver was waiting for him.
Unlike Robert, Oliver was dressed in regular clothes, not the school's casual wear.
"Wow, you really went all out," Robert said, impressed by Oliver's dedication. He reached out to touch the fabric of Oliver's shirt, but Oliver smacked his hand away. "Don't touch that," he warned, his voice cold and serious.
"Alright," Robert began as they walked towards the market, "Now Oliver, tell me about yourself and how you met Solomon." Robert flashed him a peculiar expression as he asked. Oliver never had a smile on his face, who knew if the question would agitate him?
"Well, since this is a period of peace I wouldn't mind telling you about myself," Oliver replied, his tone flat and indifferent, as usual. He kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, not looking at Robert as he spoke.
"My story begins with my status as an orphan," Oliver began, his voice steady and emotionless.
Robert gasped, taken aback by the words. Oliver glanced at him and offered a slight smile, but his eyes remained cold. "Now, before you ask," he continued, "I should tell you that I don't know who my parents were. All I know is that I was raised by a foster father who was a gangster and treated me horribly. My foster mother was a bit better, but she was just a fishmonger. She often took me with her when she went fishing, and we were what you might call a second-class family living in the countryside. But my life didn't really start to change until one fateful Saturday, when my foster father went out for drinks with his friends and left me alone at home, starving. My foster mother had gone to the market a few days earlier and hadn't returned yet, so I decided to go to the river where all the village kids liked to swim in the evening. As I was swimming, I noticed the water was getting colder and colder, even though it was summer. A strong gust of wind blew across the river, and that's when..."
"Solomon," Robert mumbled and smiled.
"Yeah, that was when he surreptitiously possessed me. I went home when it was almost dusk but as I entered that damn thing I called home, a blow struck me from nowhere and I collapsed on the ground. I looked up, only to see my stupid foster father glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. He raised his hand to hit me asking why I left home without permission. Evidently, he was drunk, but at that moment all I remembered was transforming into Solomon and freezing the moron half to death."
"What about your mother?" Robert asked curiously.
"After I froze him, I discovered a faint whimper coming from the door," Oliver continued "It sounded like a cat on the virge of death. I walked over to the door and saw my foster mother lying on the floor, a broken bottle sticking out from her sides. Clearly, my foster father who was drunk had attacked her when she returned from the market. I tried to help but was too weak and couldn't do anything. All I could do was watch her die in my feeble arms. As a tough kid from the countryside, i didn't cry or fall apart. Instead, I grabbed her purse and ran away. I'm sure the villagers had thawed him out from the ice and he is still alive, I hope I meet him again, wanna finish what I started."
Robert was silent for a moment taking in the story. "I'm so sorry you went through all of that," he said at last.
"Oh it's nothing," Oliver waved him off.
Robert looked around at the bustling market while trying to analyze Oliver's story, the poor boy must have become a sadist, all thanks to his 'dad'.
As they approached the theft zone - er market, Robert caught a whiff of sizzling steak, lamb chops, hot dogs and other tantalizing smells. He couldn't help but salivate.
Bright Future Models School was located in Axille, a rural town in the city of Heiss. The town was quiet and serene. This was to help students concentrate on their studies without being distracted by the blaring car horns, train whistles, and roaring helicopters that defined the urban landscape.
The students at Bright Future Models School were given nutritious, well-cooked meals every day. They could only dream of foods like chicken and ham while they were in school, as such delicacies were strictly off-limits.
Robert licked his lips and rubbed his palms excitedly.
"Time for lunch..."